Before They Were Famous: iHeartRadio Music Awards Edition

The iHeartRadio Awards are right around the corner. Find out what the nominees were up to before the fame!
<p>Don't forget to vote! You can vote for your favorite artists right <a href="http://news.iheart.com/awards/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p>Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Lorde, and Austin Mahone were students before they rose to fame as teenagers.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photos: Getty Images/Shutterstock</span>
Blake Shelton worked at his step dad's roofing business.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images/Shutterstock</span>
Kesha was on an awkward episoode of 'The Simple Life' with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: <a style="font-size: 9px;" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbcBOe0U3Sw" target="new"> Youtube</a></span>
Dan Reynolds volunteered full-time as a Mormon missionary in Nebraska for two years while the rest of his Imagine Dragon band mates went to college.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images</span>
Before Maroon 5 was famous, they formed the band Kara's Flowers, named after one of their groupees.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo:<a style="font-size: 9px;" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcDr5m_cuxU" target="new">YouTube</a></span>
When he was 15, Luke Bryan worked at K-Mart!
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photos: Getty Images/Shutterstock</span>
Before Miley Cyrus started acting, she was a normal girl living on her family's farm in Tennessee.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photos: WireImage/Shutterstock</span>
Ariana Grande was on the Nickelodeon TV show, 'Victorious.'
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo:<a style="font-size: 9px;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clQ2GBFZK7E" target="new">YouTube</a></span>
Before Pitbull was a rapper he had some trouble with the law.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Courtesy Miami-Dade County</span>
Florida Georgia Line were students at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images/Shutterstock</span>
Jay Z got mixed up with the law as a teen, but used music to escape his past.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images</span>
Before Macklemore 'popped some tags,' he worked as a security guard at a youth correctional facility and at the Seattle zoo
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images</span>
Calvin Harris thought he was going to be the next soccer star Steve McManaman. He says, 'But I never had curly hair, so I got into music. If I'd had curly hair, things would've been different.'
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images</span>
Eminem worked at a factory when he was 16, which entailed sweeping floors and taking out the trash etc. He also worked at Little Caeser's Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images/Shutterstock</span>
After dropping out of Camberwell College of Arts to focus on her music, Florence Welch worked at a bar.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images/Shutterstock</span>
Lana Del Rey, or Lizzie Grant as a her classmates knew her, studied a branch of philosophy known as metaphysics at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images</span>
Pharrell attended band camp as a kid, and played the snare drum in his high school marching band. He was discovered in a talent show playing with his band The Neptunes.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images/Shutterstock</span>
Thomas Rhett got his start playing backup drums with his dad. He went on to play at parties in college.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images</span>
Justin Timberlake got his start on the 'Mickey Mouse Club!'
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo:<a style="font-size: 9px;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZMEJ4v2flI" target="new">YouTube</a></span>
Before touring all over the world in extravagant outfits as Lady Gaga, the superstar was featured on MTV's 'Boiling Points.'
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo:<a style="font-size: 9px;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-dQb0_kiXE" target="new">YouTube</a></span>
Demi Lovato joined Selena Gomez on 'Barney!'
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo:<a style="font-size: 9px;" href="hhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkAR_Q1qnOg" target="new">YouTube</a></span>
Before Aubrey Graham was Drake, he was Jimmy on the Canadian teen drama television series 'Degrassi.' Jimmy ended up in a wheelchair after he was shot by another student at Degrassi High School.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Everett Collection</span>
Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian of Capital Cities started out writing TV jingles for Hallmark, Home Depot, and Honda.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images / Tyler McKay/Shutterstock</span>
Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino met at New York University where they studied music and formed A Great Big World.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images/Shutterstock</span>
Avicii was just Tim Bergling, a high school student from Sweden.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: WireImage/Shutterstock</span>
Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys was a student at Stocksbridge High School in Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images/Shutterstock</span>
Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt, now known as Icona Pop, were introduced by a mutual friend at a party.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images/Shutterstock</span>
Before Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. was known as T.I., he worked at an airport cleaning trash off of airplanes!
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images/Shutterstock</span>
Kyle Simmons and Dan Smith studied English at the University of Leeds before they formed Bastille with William Farquarson and Chris Wood.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: Getty Images/Shutterstock</span>
Hayley Williams was homeschooled before she started performing with Paramore! She had to finish school while on the road because she was 16 when they started touring.
<p><span style="font-size: 9px;">Photo: WireImage/Shutterstock</span>